About

Hisham and Sila has been writing stuff down on this weblog since 2005. Sometimes they post photos of family, sometimes they talk about film, books and music, sometimes there is artwork and stuff about tabletop gaming.

Yesterday, my theatre arts students completed their course. In conjunction with the final session, the students and I organised the inaugural Performance Day for the course.

We began at 2pm. Ain brought snacks and kuih for the students. Irfan was our videographer, using the department's camera.

The students had prepared for two plays to be performed for the event. The first was "The Midnight Class" where a pair of students find themselves in a replacement Mandarin language class late at night. However, they soon realise that they are the only two students in the class who are... not dead.

"The Midnight Class" had a total of 10 speaking roles. The roles were based on the character building exercise we had over the duration of the course.

Some lines made the audience chuckle, especially the punchline to the "Why do they call you Jenny?" line. Even the cameraman here was amused during rehearsal.

Mini Six: Doom Agents

03 Rescue in the Rainforest

Title image

Last time on Doom Agents, four operatives sent to investigate the Eternitech factory deep in the South American rainforest located by the Amazon river had been captured by Eternitech's security forces led by Hideo Eguchi.

After an enemy flashbang grenade did its job in the store room where they were laying an ambush, the four agents found themselves each tied to a chair in the Eternitech factory floor, specifically on a conveyor belt that would lead to a shredding machine.

Cast of characters

Dramatis Personae

Agent Trolala Zelimkhanov, a Chechen driver - Nasha and Nurul Ain

Agent Nancy Nassirian, an Iranian fixer - Athirah and Sabrina

Agent Adam Mbokota, a South African shooter - Syafiq and Weng Zun

Agent Adrien Nicolas, a French hacker - Malvinder and Asyraaf

Agent J. Johnson Jonathan, a Nepalese hitter - Alif

Agent Harry Wilson, a British talker - Azuwan

Doctor Zolila Okhunjonov, a Uzbek medic - Intan and Azmah

I Want To Break Free

"You think you can stop us from launching our plant?" Eguchi said, slightly gloating over the captives. "We know you are not from the UNEP. If you won't tell us where you're from, then you're useless to me." Then the Security Director of Eternitech pulled a lever and machines came to life. The conveyor belt began to move. So did the various robot arms and waldos. And so did the spinning set of shredding gears at the end of the conveyor belt! Eguchi smiled then exited through a door out of the factory floor.

Nassirian, Zelimkhanov, Mbokota and Nicolas struggled the best they could but they were unable to get free. If they could not free themselves then they would die. Their weapons and gear had been confiscated. They were about to surrender to their fates when Nassirian looked up and saw three figures dressed in black creeping along on a catwalk 7 meters above the floor. Nassirian gestured for the team.

The newcomers comprised of their teammates, Agents Jonathan, Wilson and Okhunjonov. The four were elated, but tried not to show their glee too early.

After quickly setting it up, Wilson's tactical training allowed him to slide down his 10-meter rope onto the floor. Wilson hit the ground running, his pistol trained at the door. The others descended swiftly. As Jonathon looked for a way to stop the machines, Dr. Okhunjonov leapt onto the conveyor belt. She picked out a surgical blade from her medical pack and cut the captive agents' cable ties that were holding their hands and feet to their chairs.

Star Wars D6

The Battle of Corulag

Instance B

This Star Wars RPG game session (D6 system) was the first of two that I ran today using the same scenario I quickly devised yesterday for my English language classes. It was to see how different two different groups of students would play through the same adventure in the same day and if I could cope with both. The scenario was also written so the students would be able to discuss compare and contrast essays however because I started the class with an hour of presenting the conventional syllabus, we only had 45 minutes before time was up, thus we were unable to complete the scenario.

The gray and blue YT-1300 light freighter Speed Hip slowly landed on the landing field at the southern outskirts of town of Oldvalley, a population hub in the agricultural fields of the planet Corulag. The Speed Hip's ramp descended and seven individuals were disgorged into the cool Oldvalley morning air.

Their orders were clear: make contact with their agent Wes Qualto at Firelight cafe in Oldvalley. Qualto would brief them on what he had learned about the secret Imperial weapons factory that was rumoured to have constructed in the area and if they were required to destroy it.

The former Imperial TIE fighter pilot Bob led the team into Oldvalley. Beside him was the armoured bounty hunter Fetty, who took her name from the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Bob: I was a pilot with a dark past and was now trying to make amends.

Jadoo took point in town, looking for a site that could be used as a temporary base. (Succeeding in a Streetwise roll,) Jadoo led the group to a small abandoned warehouse still connected to the power and data network grid. After an hour, they had converted it into a forward operating base.

Star Wars D6

The Battle of Corulag

Instance A

This Star Wars RPG game session (D6 system) was the first of two that I ran today using the same scenario I quickly devised yesterday for my English language classes. It was to see how different two different groups of students would play through the same adventure in the same day and if I could cope with both. The scenario was also written so the students would be able to discuss compare and contrast essays however because I started the class with an hour of presenting the conventional syllabus, we only had 45 minutes before time was up, thus we were unable to complete the scenario.

Paragas, Vyruz Girl, KC, Kert and Lauren disembarked from a C-ROC transport at the landing field on the southern outskirts of the agricultural community of Oldvalley on the planet Corulag. The five were Rebels, part of an Alliance Intelligence team assigned to gather information on a rumoured secret Imperial weapons factory constructed nearby, and destroy it if required.

Paragas wore leather and fur with a long cloak that hid his blaster rifle. Beside him was Vyruz who was tall wearing a long duster jacket and wide brimmed hat. KC wore a non-descript flight suit with many pockets that held everything from macrobinoculars to a comlink. Kert - being a manumitted KX-series Imperial security droid - strode taller and thinner than any of them. Lauren brought up the rear in his heavy hood and black cloak, his lightsaber deep within its folds away from prying eyes.

Oldvalley was located in one of the many agricultural regions of Corulag. Although the towns here were not as populated as the bigger cities there such as Curamelle, there was still a substantial Imperial presence here. Imperial stormtroopers patrolled the streets, harassing the local farmers and business owners looking for rebels.

Walking into town, the team decided to visit a local cantina to gather information about the secret weapons factory.

Force and Destiny:

The Lost General

As role-playing practice for my theatre class, I ran a FFG Star Wars RPG session for the students. If playing a space swashbuckling character which might also be an alien or a droid does NOT stimulate their acting chops, I have no idea what will!

Martial Law on Zaadja!

With the Empire clamping down hard on the remote system such as Zaadja, it became more and more difficult to travel in and out of the system. Meanwhile, a rebel general named Pella Vick had been trapped on Zaadja because of the martial law.

A group of six rebel operatives had been sent there to extract the trapped general whose last known location was the lidium mining town of Cumulus.

Yes, the theme music was piped.

The team disembarked from the C-ROC Gozanti-class cruiser they had chartered to take them to Zaadja. As they walked out of the landing field, the C-ROC took off again to resume its scheduled cargo run in the Outer Rim Territories.

The mean-looking Zabrak named Merick led the group into the town centre. The air was frigid. Freezing winds blew in from the north. Tall, dark clouds laden with ice and snow rose above the horizon to the north east.

The town square was sparsely populated. One or two citizens could be seen briskly walking from shop to shop, their eyes on the cold, hard ground. In fact there were more Imperial stormtroopers than citizens in the Cumulus streets.

One stormtrooper spotted the group and approached them, and by default the person on point: Merick.

"Newcomers, eh?" the trooper said. "What is your business here?"

Merick answered by igniting her blue-bladed lightsaber and skewering the trooper's chest. (One Success on her Lightsaber skill check which took 10 Wound Points off the Imperial.) She quickly deactivated her weapon and caught the trooper before he fell to the ground, dead as a doorknob.

Everyone else in the team was horrified. There were other stormtroopers coming into view. They noticed that a trooper on the roof of a two-story building, a storefront, had turned his attention on them.

This marks the first time students played a second game in a single campaign, although they all played new characters because of a TPK in their first session.

Mini Six: Doom Agents

02 Debacle in the Amazon

Dramatis Personae

Agent Trolala Zelimkhanov, a Chechen driver - Nasha and Nurul Ain

Agent Nancy Nassirian, an Iranian fixer - Syafiq and Weng Zun

Agent Adam Mbokota, a South African shooter - Athirah and Sabrina

Agent Adrien Nicolas, a French hacker - Malvinder and Asyraaf

A year after the incident in Fukushima, a fresh new group of agents were sent deep into the Amazon in South America. Command was suspicious of the construction of a manufacturing plant owned by the multi-national corporation Eternitech located by the Amazon river.

Boulders Are Falling On My Head

Trolala Zelimkhanov, the elegantly dressed agent, drove their pink Ford Ranger along the private road that would take them to the Eternitech factory. She had picked them up at the airport and was now driving them through the lush green Amazon rainforest. Because the road was wide and empty, she drove like a Fast and Furious stunt driver scaring the poop out of her colleagues.

They had been driving for over three hours when they passed through a valley, flanked by tall steep hills. Tall and skinny, the dark-skinner shooter Adam Mbokta was stretching at the back of the car when he saw something somewhat distressing: The top of the cliffs they were driving past was crumbling and tonnes of hard, rocky boulders were tumbling down the hill headed towards them!

Mbokota quickly warned Zelimkhanov, rousing the others. She, however, took a while to understand because of Mbokota's pronounciation. Only when Mbokota kicked the back of her seat and pointed to the rockslide did Zelimkhanov realise their peril.

Nicolas: A big boulder fell from the top of the mountain and rolled down towards us at high speed. Then, Trolala pushed the pedal to the end, increasing speed to be able to dodge the falling boulder.

She drove like a speed demon as a mass of destructive rocks came down upon them. (She rolled a successful Drive Vehicle check.) But she drive intelligently and in a blink of an eye was able to reach the safe zone before the avalanche swamped down, shredded the road into debris, cutting off their way back to civilisation.